Category: Stewardship

TFI Statement on Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s August 8, 2019, Status Report

Agriculture is at the frontline of adaptation to climate change. In the last twelve months, the record-breaking flood events and challenging precipitation frequencies in the Midwest challenged farmers and the fertilizer industry to adapt to a dramatically shortened fall field work and spring planting season.  

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released today cautions that land must remain productive to feed a rising world population and highlights the importance of fertilizer application rate and timing to maintain production potential and reduce environmental quality impairment. We believe that the efficiency of fertilizer use is central to the goal of successful adaptation to changes in environmental conditions. 

The fertilizer industry is committed to the sustainable use of its products using the 4R Nutrient Stewardship framework (use of the right fertilizer source, at the right rate, the right time, and in the right place). This science-based, site-specific approach is contributing to incredible progress in minimizing the impact of fertilizer use has on our nation’s air and water resources. Since 1980, U.S. farmers have more than doubled corn production using just 6.9 percent more fertilizer. Considering that emissions from agricultural operations have been relatively flat since 1990, this is tremendous progress.

Still, there is much more work to be done. Science-based decision making should be the foundation for the adoption of climate smart technologies and practices for sustainable agriculture and global food production. The 4R Research Fund, which is supported by the fertilizer industry and other key stakeholders supports integral research and provides information to help farmers maintain the cycle of continuous improvement.

Beyond farm fields, minimizing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is also a priority for companies that produce fertilizer. The industry captures CO2 emitted during ammonia production and re-uses it during the production of urea, another nitrogen fertilizer. Excess CO2 captured from fertilizer production is also recycled for other industrial use, such as enhanced oil recovery and the carbonization of soft drinks.

In 2017, the industry captured and re-used 7.5 million metric tons – which is 24 percent of all GHGs emitted by the industry throughout the year.  This is a dramatic increase compared to 2013, when the industry captured and re-used 9 percent of its GHGs. 

 

 

 

Foundation for Agronomic Research Names John D. Jones Director

Washington, D.C. – The Fertilizer Institute today announced the selection of John D. Jones as the Director of the Foundation for Agronomic Research.  Jones will provide oversight of the 4R Research Fund, coordinate a 4R Researcher network, and support other strategies to advance 4R nutrient stewardship. The 4R Research Fund is a science-based research initiative aimed at improving agricultural sustainability by expanding knowledge of the 4Rs. The Fund is supported by the fertilizer industry and other stakeholders.

“John Jones brings a unique breadth of experience to the Foundation for Agronomic Research,” said TFI Vice President of Stewardship and Sustainability Lara Moody. “Having served as the primary agronomic advisor for a yield contest winning soybean farmer in Kansas to conducting instrumental research for understanding soil and phosphorus loss in Iowa and advocating for science policy that supports agricultural research on the local, state, and national level, John is uniquely-qualified to lead FAR.”

Jones holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Agronomy & Environmental Science from Kansas State University, and a Masters’ Degree in Soil Science-Soil Fertility from Iowa State University (ISU).  At present, he is finishing his PhD in Soil Fertility and Sustainable Agriculture at ISU. He is a winner of the 2019 American Society of Agronomy Future Leaders in Science Award from the Tri-societies and a recipient of the 2018 Robert A. Sloan Award in Sustainable Agriculture from ISU. He has extensive agricultural retail experience organizing and leading on-farm research grower networks and implementing progressive agronomic practices that highlight profitability and input efficiency.

“John’s research, teaching, and industry experiences reflect the very scientific framework in which 4R nutrient stewardship is grounded,” said Moody. “He is adept in leveraging multiple sources of funding, coordinating multiple researchers and staff members, and strategically planning future research program directions and will be an asset to our nutrient stewardship efforts.”

TFI’s advocacy efforts during the last session of Congress resulted in identification of the 4Rs as a priority research area within the 2018 Farm Bill. This landmark legislation influences the United States Department of Agriculture’s research expenditures including National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant funds and the Agricultural Research Service research efforts.

The 4R Fund  most recently awarded nearly $2.7 million to five research efforts in California, Arizona, Utah, Arkansas and the South (Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee and Texas) to projects focused on almonds, vegetables, tart cherry, potatoes, wheat, corn and corn silage, alfalfa, cotton, rice, and soybean. Those funds were leveraged with $3.2 million from multiple stakeholders to total $5.9 million in research.

Lake Erie – A Complex Equation for Agriculture

Ecosystems are complex, as is our understanding of the factors affecting them. The Western Lake Erie Basin and the watershed that feeds it is as amazing as it is confounding. Many factors affect the potential for harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie, and as a recent report by the International Joint Commission indicates, just looking within the agricultural landscape elicits an array of contributing factors – many of which are not easily managed.

Phosphorus that is intentionally trapped in installed buffer zones, filter strips, wetlands, riparian zones, ditches and drains, as well as river channels, may be shifting away from these phosphorus sinks and becoming slow releasing phosphorus sources. Agricultural soils in general can also be a slowly releasing phosphorus source. The beneficial and widely adopted practice of conservation tillage systems, initiated in the 1980s to reduce erosion and loss of particulate phosphorus as well as to improve soil health, is contributing to increased dissolved reactive phosphorus loss from fields over time. Without soil disturbance, phosphorus accumulates in the upper most layer of the soil. And combined with high rainfall patterns linked with changing climate conditions, an increasing load of dissolved reactive phosphorus is entering the Lake Erie’s tributaries as a result of increased water flows.

The International Joint Commission (IJC) recently released a report, “Fertilizer Application Patterns and Trends and Their Implications for Water Quality in the Western Lake Erie Basin,” which assesses fertilizer application and impacts in the region. As the report points out, the region is complex and the factors mentioned above only tell part of the story.

There are other contributing factors, like the use of commercial and manure fertilizer sources, which can be managed to the benefit of lake and to farming operations in the watershed. The IJC report notes that broader implementation of a mix of current best management practices is a critical strategy to restoring the health of Lake Erie. Specifically, it notes that adoption of 4R nutrient stewardship (the right fertilizer source applied at the right rate, the right time, and in the right place) can have a positive influence on reducing phosphorus loss from agricultural lands – with timing, rate, and placement being of particular importance. Models also indicate that combinations of nutrient management with various land management practices are necessary to realize a significant reduction in phosphorus loading through Lake Erie tributaries.

The complex equation for agriculture to help reduce the potential for harmful algal blooms in the Lake is not yet solved, and as the IJC report recommends, we all have more to do. The fertilizer industry and our stakeholders continue to promote and support adoption of 4R practices on the farm, through initiatives such as the 4R Nutrient Management Certification Program. And efforts to evaluate the effectiveness of 4R and other best management practices at field and watershed scale must be continued and expanded to identify areas of improvement, something The Fertilizer Institute is pursuing through the 2018 Farm Bill as well as with our own members via the industry’s 4R Research Fund. 

Reducing algal blooms in Lake Erie will take time, but we must act on what we know and continue to be pragmatic in our solutions.